Rats. They're a staple of early RPG levels, and while some games have fun with them, like giving them psychic powers or hiding a single huge one under an inn, in Wartales they're grotesque, their disgusting hole surrounded by the carcasses of their victims, the ground made sticky by blood.
I hadn't even picked up a quest, so I didn't need to attack. I just saw rats and waded in with all the misplaced bravery of the level-two fighter. And frankly, I've had better mornings.
This fight against rats hinges on killing the broodmother, a swollen monstrosity who summons more rats out of the ground every time she gets a turn. Wartales, from the French developer behind Dune: Spice Wars, has been in Early Access for a while now, and is aiming for a release later this year. The game switches between real-time exploration and turn-based combat, so pitting my party of six fighters, rangers and archers against 15 rats sees the rodents nibble away at health and armor while I'm waiting for a turn. I prevail, but my party members are injured, have the plague, and are in need of a rest.
Wartales drops you down in a rural landscape and asks you to make the best of it. You're not special, there's no prophecy, nor do you have a mysterious amulet, birthmark or hairstyle. There's not even a 'you', as you begin with four characters (plus a pony, sworn to carry your burdens) and can recruit more. Some may die, others leave because you're not paying them enough, but there are often useful warriors sitting in the taverns looking for work.
Those that survive can have their equipment upgraded, with items either picked off corpses, bought, or crafted. Then there are stat upgrades, oils, potions... the list of familiar fantasy game items is long. There are also little minigames for mining, lockpicking and forging, bonuses for fighting side by side with your allies or surrounding the enemy, and constant opportunities to steal.
この記事は PC Gamer US Edition の July 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は PC Gamer US Edition の July 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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